Figurative Language In Dulce Et Decorum Est

One is to think of war as one of the most honorable and noble services that a man can attend to for his country, it is seen as one of the most heroic ways to die for the best cause. The idea of this is stripped down and made a complete mockery of throughout both of Wilfred Owen’s poems “Dulce Et Decorum Est” and “Anthem for Doomed Youth”. Through his use of quickly shifting tones, horrific descriptive and emotive language and paradoxical metaphors, Owen contradicts the use of war and amount of glamour given towards the idea of it.

In Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est”, Owen mocks his title which is written in latin and means, “It is sweet and proper”. “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” means it is sweet and proper to die fighting for your country. These phrases were used by Britain during World War I to persuade young men to fight for their own country. Throughout the poem, Owen mocks these men who thought they would become heros during the war and come out triumphant. He uses many harsh similes describing the looks of the men during the war. At the end of the poem, Owen calls these soldiers, seeking glory and fame, children, because they were foolish enough to fall for Britain’s persuasion. He says the phrase, “It is sweet and proper to die fighting for one’s country”, is a lie because how can war and death be sweet and proper. He mocks his title and says that war is not what it is portrayed to be because there is no hero and fighting for one’s country is malicious and pointless.

“It is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country” (Horace). Although many American’s believe this statement to be true, Wilfred Owen disputes it in his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est”. Owen uses an oppressed and fearful but accusatory tone along with similes, imagery, rhythm, and diction to show his disapproval of the war. With the diction and rhythm used in the story of a gas attack paired with figurative language, Owen brings his audience into the war with him and proves that it is anything but sweet to die for one’s country.

Wilfred Owen's poem ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ shows how harsh and terrible war really was. Owen uses language features such as similes, personification and strong adjectives to make the readers feel pity, disbelief and disgust at the struggles these men went through during the war. Throughout the poem the poet makes the reader feel disgust using violent imagery to show the harsh conditions that the soldiers experienced, and how the war affected them. This is shown when an unlucky soldier is described dying in a gas attack.

(*) Wilfred Owen makes an attempt to show people the catastrophes of war by demoralizing the soldiers that people view as heroes, “Bend doubled, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge”. By using intense descriptions of the emotional and physical torture that soldiers endure during war, Owen attempts to extinguish the idea that war is full of glory. Owen states later on “before my helpless sight”. By using the word helpless to describe the sight of one of the “glorious” soldiers, Owen implies that the soldiers, whom the public view as heroes, are pathetically helpless when presented with a motion of death. It infuriates Wilfred Owen when he hears other people telling children that there is glory in war because he experienced war first hand. Due to his past experiences, Owen knows the true dangers that soldiers face and how they react to them. Owen understands that no matter how much training a person goes through, the human mind is not capable of enduring the devastations that occur during a time of war. By exemplifying the pain of war, Wilfred Owen hopes that people disregard “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria

In his poem, Dulce Et Decorum Est, Owen uses similes, “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, /Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge…” to highlight the suffering and fatigue of the soldiers, and the state they have been reduced to. The young men had been reduced to the state where they could be described

While both Alfred Lord Tennyson and Wilfred Owen describe war in great detail in their works “Charge of the Light Brigade” and “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” respectively, Tennyson describes the courage and honor of warfare, whereas Owen goes into more detail about the horrors and atrocities that go hand-in-hand with war. Tennyson describes a battle in which 600 bold and courageous men storm a valley, which he refers to as the “Valley of Death” (line 7), to meet their almost inevitable death. Owen in his “Dulce et Decorum Est,” describes a scene from World War I in which soldiers are bombarded with gas shells. In this essay I will argue that despite their differing subjects and themes, both Tennyson and Owen’s work prove that the honor and courage of the soldiers comes directly from the hardships they must endure.

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) is widely recognised as one of the greatest voices of the First World War. Owen is one of the greatest writers of war poetry in the history of the English language. Having experienced war as a former soldier he used his personal experiences to help write the famous poems we still read today. Owen’s fine poetry include Anthem for Doomed Youth and Dulce et Decorum Est (1917) and Storm (1916), ‘1914’ (1914). In these four poems it illustrates how Owen has become so recognised for his work in the world war era. His most famous poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ shows ideas relating to the motives of men as well as the lack of morals within recruitment for the wars. Parallel to this Owen defaces the ‘glory war’ and describes the

The poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen portrays the horrors of World War I with the horrific imagery and the startling use of words he uses. He describes his experience of a gas attack where he lost a member of his squadron and the lasting impact it had on him. He describes how terrible the conditions were for the soldiers and just how bad it was. By doing this he is trying to help stop other soldiers from experiencing what happened in a shortage of time.

Since the beginning of civilization, wars have been used to decide and many of the world’s conflicts. With the increase of knowledge and technology, wars have become more violent and gruesome. For example, the Revolutionary War is nothing in comparison to present day wars. Beginning with World War 1 in the early 1900s, wars started to become more brutal as this followed the biggest advancement of technology in history. Wilfred Owen perfectly portrays this in his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est.” He wrote this poem to respond to pro-war propaganda and to show the public the reality of this “Great” War. Owen graphically depicts the terrible conditions and the extreme dangers that the soldiers faced in World War 1.

Wilfred Owen, a British war poet, used multiple poetic devices to enhance and explore the futility of war within ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ the first segment of a Latin saying ‘Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori’, translates to ‘It is sweet and right’ collectively translating to ‘It is sweet and right to die for your country’. The theme within Owen’s poem contests this saying, through the implementation of irony. The utilisation of imagery effectively contradicts the heroic perception of war, subsequently contradicting the title’s translation. Owen’s implementation of similes enables relatability for the audience, ultimately generating a similar vivid image for every audience. The use of metaphors allows a greater understanding

Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est”, portrays the war well and what it leaves behind. This poem shows the brutality of war and uses imagery to describe the situations that the soldiers face every day. It also shows how war can dehumanize soldiers by ruining their physical and emotional state of mind.

Wilfred Owen’s representation of the soldier’s mental and physical suffering is confronting because his anti-war stance enables him to reveal the brutal and inhumane reality of the battlefield to the public in order to challenge the social paradigm of going to war is honourable and glorious, the idea that people held during WWI period. This representation of human suffrage is deliberately presented throughout Owen’s poem. His poems, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, written in 1920 and ‘Anthem For Doomed Youth’ written in 1917 captures the destructiveness side on soldiers of war. ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ is an account of Owen’s first hand experience of war. This poem illustrates the physical distortion confronted by the soldiers as a result of war.

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) is recognised as one of the greatest voices of the First World War. Owen is one of the greatest writers of war poetry in the history of the English language. Having experienced war as a former soldier he used his personal experiences to help write the famous poems we still read today. Owen’s fine poetry includes Anthem for Doomed Youth and Dulce et Decorum Est (1917) and Storm (1916), ‘1914’ (1914). In these four poems it illustrates how Owen has become so recognised for his work in the world war era. His most famous poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ shows ideas relating to the motives of men as well as the lack of morals within recruitment for the wars. Parallel to this Owen defaces the ‘glory war’ and describes the truth about young men being slaughtered for the wrong reasons. The poems ‘Anthem For Doomed Youth’, ‘1914’ and ‘Storm’ echo

‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ is a poem which explores the horrors which soldiers faced whilst fighting in The First World War, written from the first-hand experience of Wilfred Owen, who demolishes a popular façade that war was a glorious and noble thing to be part of. To present the realities of war in ‘Dulce…’, firstly there is an ironic use of religious language with words such as “desperate glory” and “ardent”; religion teaches peace and love, and war is a direct contrast to that. Owen also uses words such as “old beggars” and “hags”, emphasising how the young soldiers have seemingly aged prematurely and war has destroyed their health: these soldiers should be young and strong but instead they are described as old women, again implying the emasculation of the men by war. The word “hag” is also significant in being associated with the supernatural, a theme Owen explores within the poem.